IT was a day for deep reflection at the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) recently, as a vivid picture of the dangers posed to Nigerias environment by the quest for development was painted by Dr Anastasios Paul Leventis, Chairman of the Leventis Worldwide Foundation.In measured tone, before an impressive array of intellectuals, politicians and other stakeholders, Leventis declared that human prosperity was being achieved increasingly at the cost of environmental degradation, a process that, he insisted, cannot be maintained indefinitely.The occasion was the commissioning of the OAU Museum of Natural History, of which a lecture titled: Our Environment at Risk was an integral part. The museum, which had been abandoned for 25 years, got a respite when Leventis Foundation, prompted by a proposal it received from the OAU management, decided to fund its construction. It was thus understandable when Leventis mounted the podium to deliver the only lecture held before the actual commissioning.In the opening salvo, Leventis agreed the human civilization had evolved independently, but with linkages that had crossed borders and had also advanced knowledge, particularly in science. But this also had the effect, he argued, of placing the finest and most advanced technologies in the hands of governments, institutions and individuals lacking, in many cases, ethical insights, disciplines and economic foresight to apply them in discerning ways.To this extent, he declared, the future of the world is dictated increasingly by economic distortions resulting mainly from humanitys apparent inability to manage constructively its scientific ingenuity.Citing examples, Leventis stated that a recently published United Nations Report on ecosystems and biodiversity had estimated that the worlds fish population could be wiped out within 50 years if current trend continued. Besides, the report had also indicated that 150 million hectares of tropical rainforest was destroyed annually between 1990 and 2008. A few people were relatively enriched by this process, he observed,but (this has) resulted in land degradation, loss of water shed protection and biodiversity were ignored, as was the fact that carbon emissions generated by this process were possible the major contributor to global warming.Coming nearer home, Leventis made a startling revelation: In north eastern Nigeria a great wetland complex of rivers and shallow lakes, leading ultimately into the Lake Chad covered, at its peak, an estimated 3,000 sq. km of naturally flooded aquatic habitat. This represented an invaluable resource for the approximately three million inhabitants of this flood plain and made of it, possibly, the most agriculturally productive area in Nigeria.Indeed, the railway system was extended in the 1950s to evacuate 1.4 million annual tons of produce and 6000 annual tons of fish. Farming was based on a combination of rain-fed agriculture, recession agriculture and fishing as lake-beds dried out in dry seasons. The construction in the 1970s and 80s of mega dams up-stream for artificial irrigation on all but one of the major water-resources and at the cost of $4.5 billion changed all that.Flooded areas now average a mere 500-800 square kilometers, so natural agriculture has reduced substantially and has not been compensated by irrigated production up stream.Linking his analysis to the importance of the new museum, Leventis affirmed that it was a function of any good university to participate in research that studies species and measures the short and longer-term effects of human activity on the environment. To study change, one must have a strong starting point, and a good Natural History Museum will provide this.Explaining the rationale behind the foundation funding pattern, he said: The A.G Leventis Foundation first initiated an agricultural training program in Nigeria in 1986 when two schools were established at Ilesha (Osun State) and in Dongon Dawa (Kaduna state. There are now six schools, which are funded by the foundation and the host states in a ratio of 60 percent foundation, 40 per cent states. The schools exist to train young farmers in efficient farm management and in improved agricultural practices to protect soil fertility.According to an OAU publication titled: The Making of History: From Rubble to Redux, the idea of having a Natural History Museum in the University was hatched in 1971, for which an endowment was launched in 1973. By January 1974, the museum was established as an autonomous unit starting with the collection of the exhibits of the Zoology Department of the institution. But the museums growth was handicapped due to inadequate space for its operations. The idea of constructing a building to hose the museum was then mooted, and the James Cubitt Adenuga company was asked to design the structure.But due to cash constraints, the project was abandoned for 30 years until a package of £468,000 was provided by the Leventis Foundation, which finally made the dream a reality.
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